350-acre north Dublin site proposed for super-dump

A 350-acre site at Tooman in north Co Dublin has been proposed for a new regional super-landfill to serve Dublin city and county for the next 20 years.

The super-landfill, which will be one of the biggest in the country, will have a dumping area of up to 150 acres, and a capacity for 10 million tonnes of waste. The location has been proposed by consultants working for the four local authorities in the greater Dublin area.

The Tooman site lies close to the M1 motorway, about 11 kilometres north of Swords. It was selected ahead of six other sites - three in the Fingal area, two in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and one in south Dublin.

Fingal County Council is embarking on a massive publicity campaign to win support from local landowners and residents for the project.

Council officials will be meeting the landowners and residents affected in the coming days.

The council said last night it is "well aware of the concerns of local communities", according to a spokesman, Mr Gilbert Power.

Yesterday the council outlined the urgent need for the dump with the impending closure of three of the landfills which the Tooman facility is to replace.

These are the Ballyogan landfill, which is to reach capacity this month; the privately-owned KTK landfill near Kill, which is to close in 2006; and the Arthurstown landfill, also at Kill, which is to close in 2007. The extended Balleally landfill is due to reach capacity by 2009.

According to consultants RPS MCOS, the capacity of the proposed new dump is required for residual waste from Dublin city and county after waste reduction, recycling and the use of a proposed incinerator at Ringsend.

Fingal county councillors are expected to give the go-ahead before the end of the month for detailed site investigation and the preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS).

The council, which is acting on behalf of the four local authorities in the Dublin region, will also ask the consultants to draw up an application for a waste management licence from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The exact amount of waste and the lifetime of the landfill will be set by the EPA as part of its licence conditions.

Fingal council will also prepare and submit a planning application and the EIS to Bord Pleanála for approval.

The process from planning to commissioning is expected to take up to three and a half years.

The council says Tooman would be an "engineered landfill", which involves lined dumps with leachate and gas collection and provision for the waste to be covered as it is dumped each day.